GIRLS' EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT IN RURAL AREAS

Book excerpt: Empowerment means making someone equipped to bring about a change in the situations of inequality and discrimination. It is a process of challenging the existing power relations and of gaining greater control over the sources of power. The girls belonging to rural areas have to face community deprivation as well as various negative and suppressive forces. The study aims to explore the situation of the girls residing in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal. It is important to investigate the decision-making capacity of girls and how education equips them with the attitudes and skills required to negotiate the challenging situations within their own families, community, market and workplace. The book unravels their perceptions, present status and experiences of schooling and beyond. It focuses on their path after schooling and its benefits drawn from education.